Mathematical models and computer simulations usually begin as aids to understanding, introduced when some aspect of natural science proves too knotty for direct analysis. (…) Then the model itself becomes an object of scientific inquiry—a puzzle to be solved.

A good example is the Ising model in solid-state physics, which attempts to explain the nature of magnetism in materials such as iron. (…) One step up from the Ising model—in terms of realism and complexity—is something called the Hubbard model. (…)

Except in the special case of a one-dimensional lattice, the Hubbard model has defied exact mathematical analysis. And computer simulations of Hubbard systems become painfully slow with any more than a few dozen electrons. Calculations are so difficult that no one knows for sure whether various Hubbard systems are conductive or insulating, or what their magnetic properties might be. This situation has led to an extraordinary new strategy for solving the model: putting it to the test of experiment.

{ American Scientist | Continue reading }

YouTube may pay less to be online than you do, a new report on internet connectivity suggests, calling into question a recent analysis arguing Google’s popular video service is bleeding money and demonstrating how the internet has continued to morph to fit user’s behavior.

In fact, with YouTube’s help, Google is now responsible for at least 6 percent of the internet’s traffic, and likely more — and may not be paying an ISP at all to serve up all that content and attached ads.

Credit Suisse made headlines this summer when it estimated that YouTube was binging on bandwidth, losing Google a half a billion dollars in 2009 as it streams 75 billion videos. But a new report from Arbor Networks suggests that Google’s traffic is approaching 10 percent of the net’s traffic, and that it’s got so much fiber optic cable, it is simply trading traffic, with no payment involved, with the net’s largest ISPs.

{ Wired | Continue reading }

The new research suggests we are more skilled at “reading faces” than we knew. People are surprisingly adept at assessing sexual orientation from headshots. Five-year-olds can predict election outcomes based on photos of the candidates. We can even guess whether a face belongs to a Democrat or a Republican at a rate better than chance, according to a forthcoming study out of Princeton.

{ Slate | Continue reading }

previously:

Physiognomy (inferring personality traits from facial features) was outlawed by King George II in 1743, and has for many years been dismissed as a pseudoscience. However, modern research is showing not only that observers readily make inferences about other people’s traits based on their facial appearance, but that these inferences are often highly accurate. For example, people can use facial appearance to judge a man or woman’s sexual orientation and to predict the success of chief executives.

Now Justin Carre and colleagues have added to this burgeoning literature by showing that observers are able to predict the aggressiveness of a man by the look of his face.

{ BPS | Continue reading }

{ Calf with Cats for Ears | Abandoned Veterinary School of Anderlecht, Belgium via animal NY | More: The Horror Labs }

It began March 17 when Bear Stearns was forced into a marriage with J.P. Morgan Chase, with the Fed and Treasury as matchmaker. Basics: Bear Stearns complicated creature. What does an investment bank like that do? How does it make its money and where does it get its funding from? Investment banks are in a surprising number of businesses, like most complicated, big companies. Asset management business–managing people’s wealth; small brokerage business; investment banking business, meaning they raised capital for corporate clients, debt or equity capital; provided advice on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Had very large business called fixed income sales and trading business, trade, underwrite, and sell securities, debt securities, among them being mortgage-backed securities–aggregation of people’s home mortgages. Wall Street innovation in the middle 1980s that in the past decade became huge and profitable. Hedge funds. Added up to a 14,000 person firm, fifth largest on Wall Street. Mysterious: market clearing; role as intermediary for other firms. Opacity, complicated world, a lot of argot, language; disclosure minimal; can’t figure out how they make money; not like selling soap and toothpaste. Other Wall Street firms enmeshed in long term trades on their books, firms on a global basis, interconnected. At the end, Bear Stearns was very short-term oriented in their financing of themselves–the very nature of banking in general. Banks borrow short, depositors’ money which costs nothing to accumulate; risk for the bank is that when you want it, you can go to the ATM machine and get it. They count on the fact that not everybody does that at once. Occasionally everybody does want their money at once. In effect that’s what happened to Bear Stearns, except at an institutional level, borrow short and lend long. They are not a commercial bank, so they borrow in the commercial paper market; but in the end because of their own credit problems, couldn’t do that; so they borrowed in the secured lending market. Needed to borrow about $75 billion a night from firms like Federated Investments, Fidelity Investments, etc.–about 25 firms. In the end they said they weren’t going to make those loans to Bear Stearns any more. Securing those overnight loans with the mortgage backed securities they were manufacturing and in the business of trying to sell, but by March of 2008, they could no longer sell those securities and had to keep them as inventory on its own balance sheet; and then in turn use those assets to secure the overnight lending it needed. Cycle fell apart.

{ William Cohan, author of House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Steet, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the life and death of Bear Stearns. | EconTalk | Continue reading | mp3 }

What do Mao Zedong and Howard Hughes have in common? In maturity, especially later in life, neither one brushed his teeth. Ever.

Hughes—inventor of one of the largest planes in history, owner of Trans-World Airlines, blockbusting director, millionaire (for a while the world’s wealthiest man), and aviation pioneer (a transcontinental airspeed record-holder)—was also a lifelong obsessive-compulsive germaphobe. (…) His aversion to the toothbrush stemmed from its ability to carry invisible contaminants.

The mastermind of China’s Communist revolution and the author of the “Little Red Book,” on the other hand, simply preferred not to brush. Instead, Chairman Mao rubbed his teeth with green tea leaves, giving them a well-documented jade tinge. “A tiger,” he reasoned, “never brushes his teeth.”

The two men may have exposed themselves to health and hygiene problems, but they also—no doubt unintentionally—avoided injury. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 2,953 Americans were treated in 2007 for toothbrush-related injuries. The odds a person will visit an emergency department due to an accident involving a toothbrush in a year are 1 in 99,340, making a toothbrush slightly more dangerous on average than a garage door.

{ Book of Odds | Continue reading }

related { Wall Street Journal on the Book of Odds }

Fridays

• Museum of Modern Art - Free 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $20)

• Whitney Museum of American Art - Pay-what-you-wish 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $18)

(…)

Saturdays

• Guggenheim - Pay-what-you-wish 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. (normally $18)

{ Museum free hours in NYC for fall/winter 2009/10 | Newyorkology | Continue reading }

artwork { Ellsworth Kelly, Horizontal Line, 1951 }

{ The Barbarian Group and McLeod, Biomimetic Butterflies, 2007 }

related:

By the time I reached my senior year in 1997, my experience with the internet was limited to poking around on AOL while I was home for Christmas. (…)

Seven and a half years ago, Benjamin Palmer (CEO of The Barbarian Group) approached me and asked if I would be interested in starting a company with him. (…)

Our first job was for Nike (through Wieden + Kennedy). Our second, Volkswagen (through Arnold Worldwide). Not too shabby for a start-up working out of Benjamin’s apartment. Ever since then, its been success after success. We received a ton of press, a ton of awards, and never had to go searching for clients.

{ Robert Hodgin | Continue reading | Related: Flint C++ framework }

If I had to pick a year for hip-hop’s demise, though, I would choose 2009. (…) Jay-Z’s new album, “The Blueprint 3,” and some self-released mixtapes by Freddie Gibbs are demonstrating, in almost opposite ways, that hip-hop is no longer the avant-garde, or even the timekeeper, for pop music.

{ New Yorker | Continue reading }

Critics of zoos usually compare them to prisons. Ralph R. Acampora, an associate professor of philosophy at Hofstra University, thinks zoo confinement is closer to pornography. “Both participants in pornography and inhabitants of zoos are slaves to other people’s desire for viewing, for sight,” he explains. All “have their real nature concealed through their exposure,” with zoo animals “reduced to their shapes or colors or stereotypical behaviors.”

{ The Chronicle of Higher Education | Continue reading }

photo { Garry Winogrand, Central Park Zoo, New York, 1967 }

photo & quote { Alain Finkielkraut Rock | More: C’était super samedi }

{ Jovixu | liamunch }

related:

{ Asger Carlsen }

{ Highway to Russia, 1959 | Paleofuture }

{ AP Photo/Eric Risberg }

related { A Radical Solution to End the Drug War: Legalize Everything }

{ A Colt Is My Passport, 1967 | Screenshots | Wikipedia | Trailer }

The European Union is funding ambitious programs aimed at monitoring human behavior in an effort to identify deviance and pick out potential terrorists. The implications for privacy are myriad. (…)

One system involves a network of cameras in airports that can measure your speed and alert the control room should it seem excessive. The system knows terrorists tend to be nervous and almost never stop for coffee. This makes a speedy traveller a suspicious traveller.

You may also want to think twice about using the airport bathroom more than once. There is a good chance you will be picked out for an extensive security check.

{ Der Spiegel | Continue reading }

{ New scientific techniques have uncovered evidence that this picture is a previously unrecognised work by Leonardo da Vinci. | Antique Trade Gazette | Continue reading }

Dead man body remained slumped on the balcony of his apartment for four days. Neighbors thought it was a Halloween decoration.

A 10-year-old British girl has been barred from trying to sell her granny on eBay, who she described “cuddly” but “annoying.”

Charity runner in an ape costume stopped by police who thought he was an escaped gorilla.

Two women, one a 92-year-old wheelchair user with cocaine strapped to her body, arrested after arriving in Madrid on flight from Brazil.

Fake-virginity kits. Conservative Muslims in Egypt try to ban a device designed to fool men on their wedding nights

Man sees Virgin Mary in football-sized rock. Friends have called it a miracle. Father Harvey Fonseca, of Livingston’s Saint Jude Thaddeus Roman Catholic Church, isn’t so sure. Related: Shoppers spot Jesus face on the toilet door in Ikea store.

A Vermont man is behind bars after police say he stabbed his son with a corkscrew over a clogged toilet.

A judge has dismissed a felony charge against a Wisconsin woman accused of plotting with her husband’s lovers to lure him to a motel where he ended up tied to a bed with his penis glued to his stomach.

Homeowners insurance expensive on erupting volcano.

The draw of the same six winning numbers twice in a row in Bulgaria’s national lottery was a freak coincidence, officials said.

The Heene family aren’t the first to come up with a balloon-based con: Edgar Allan Poe did it in 1844. Digest: Balloon Boy saga.

Roman Polanski may return to the United States to confront charges against him, one of his lawyers said.

Cindy Crawford’s signature mole has grown, prompting cancer concern.

To understand the real difference between being circumcised and uncircumcised, ask someone who’s been cut and uncut. More: A comprehensive investigation into the pros, cons, and controversies of circumcision.

He modernized Chicago’s emergency-response center, served as Mayor Daley’s chief of staff, and led (albeit briefly) the CTA—all before his 38th birthday. Now Ron Huberman, the Israeli-born gay ex-cop, has brought his intensity and his technocratic management style to the city’s public schools.

About 25% of US jobs are offshorable.

Study reveals previously undocumented evidence about the up and downsides of having authority in the workplace. In most cases, the health costs negate the benefits.

Google to partner with iLike and Lala for their new music service.

But Twitter is already weird: It rocketed into the mainstream without really knowing what its service was.

Is there a difference in the way the brain takes in or absorbs information when it is presented electronically versus on paper? Does the reading experience change, from retention to comprehension, depending on the medium?

Study of rhesus monkeys shows running protects dopamine neurons from death.

The rates of non-familial sex crimes against children under the age of 12 are no higher during the Halloween season than at any other times of the year. The findings raise questions about the wisdom of law enforcement practices aimed at dealing with a problem that does not appear to exist.

In the past few decades, the Asian tiger mosquito has travelled from its natural home in Southeast Asia to the ends of the earth, becoming one of the world’s most invasive species. Related: Invasive beetles of various colors and sizes have infiltrated U.S. forests, despite efforts by government experts.

Pesticides exposure linked to suicidal thoughts.

Astronomers discover 32 new planets.

The long-standing rule of matching wine and food actually has a scientific explanation. Researchers found that the small amounts of iron found in many red wines caused those who eat fish to have a strong, fishy aftertaste.

Alain Ducasse judges New York’s French fries.

A train derailment on Monday morning scrambled subway routes from Manhattan’s West Side to Downtown Brooklyn. No passengers were injured when one wheel of a southbound No. 2 express train jumped the rail as the train entered the Park Place station in the financial district.

A woman standing on a Manhattan subway platform with her pants down bit a New York City police officer in the back, police said Thursday.

Chair made of 10,000 drinking straws, kitchen island made of 20,000 Lego bricks, giant balloon sculptures.

The fastest Cadillac on the planet.

The largest salt desert in the world.

In the 1970s, Stuart Hample was a struggling cartoonist. Then he hit on the idea of turning Woody Allen into a comic strip.

Illustrated Book of Genesis by Robert Crumb features Bible characters having intercourse.

The Red Book: Liber Novus by CG Jung [9 pictures]. [Previously: NY Times, Wikipedia]

Book-pricing. Target has entered the battle to bring down the price of some of the holiday season’s biggest anticipated hardcover books. And Wal-Mart, which started it all, immediately fired back.

The rise of the neuronovel.

The Nation is releasing a book of essays slamming Sarah Palin for being the rollicking jalopy of folksy horseshit that she is titled, Going Rouge, An American Nightmare, on the same day that Palin’s autobiography titled, Going Rogue, An American Life, hits the bookstores. Related: Fox News’ Palin parody book warning.

There seems to be some confusion about what David Lynch’s Inland Empire is about.

The Simpsons has made fun of religions and ethnicities of all stripes, but one they won’t touch is Scientology. 10 Things You Never Knew About The Simpsons.

‘Sup Magazine 20, Carl Craig interview.

Damien Hirst with no glasses on. More: Exhibition at the Wallace Collection.

B/w accident photos.

Mick Jagger letter to Andy Warhol.

Grace Jones polaroids.

L’indovinello più difficile del mondo (The hardest logic puzzle in the world).

Stool, Epsom salts, rare earth magnet, hematite magnet, harmony balls.

Dead albatross.

Anal bleaching is for losers.

Apparently in Slovenia, all billboards have boobs.

Kids on energy drink.

In our contemporary ‘information age’, information and the body stand in a new, peculiar, and ambiguous relationship to one another. Information is plumbed from the body but treated as separate from it, facilitating, as Irma van der Ploeg has suggested, the creation of a separate virtual ‘body-as-information’ that has affected the very ontology of the body.

This ‘informatization of the body’ has been both spurred and enabled by surveillance techniques that create, depend upon, and manipulate virtual bodies for a variety of predictive purposes, including social control and marketing. While, as some feminist critics have suggested, there appears to be potential for information technologies to liberate us from oppressive ideological models, surveillance techniques, themselves so intimately tied to information systems, put normative pressure on non-normative bodies and practices, such as those of queer and genderqueer subjects. Ultimately, predictive surveillance is based in an innately conservative epistemology, and the intertwining of information systems with surveillance undermines any liberatory effect of the former.

{ Surveillance, Gender, and the Virtual Body in the Information Age | Full Text | More: Surveillance & Society, Vol 6, No 4 (2009)

photo { Arno Bani }